and this puppy wouldn't be the first one to be be left on the road to fend for himself.

Because he was so young and no one at all was looking for him,
it was my opinion and that of the shelters and SPCA

that this was indeed a dump.
Seriously, people, if you have an animal you don't want
or can't keep
take it to a shelter or give it away via classifieds or Craigslist.
Don't just leave them in the cold on the side of the road.
This puppy nearly got run over
because someone didn't want to drive 15 minutes away
and take him to the shelter.

And so,

after 2 weeks of seeing if an owner would appear

Jake is home.

In our home.
He's actually really good.
Has the concept of house training down
and has only had a handful of accidents- mostly due to human error.
And he already learned "sit"

He tries to fit all the toys in his mouth.

So far he has managed the tire rope toy and the tennis ball

at the same time.

And his ears crack me up.

He really gets "into" his food

He's named after the Pirates of the Mississippi song "Feed Jake"

(You know, "If I die before I wake feed Jake...)

Seriously, feed him because he acts like he's starving 90% of the time.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Jamestown, VA was the first permanent English settlements in the Americas.
In December of 1606, 104 settlers sailed from London
to find a water route to the Orient, settle Virginia and find gold.
From the moment they stepped off the shipped,
the settlers came under attack by the Algonquin Indians in the area.
The Algonquins were a constant on-again-off-again enemy.

Pocahontas daughter of Chief Powhatan

Captain John Smith was able to set up trade with the Algonquins

but with Smith's departure back to England,

the period known as "The Starving Time" came about.

Many people died from starvation and disease

and there was a period of warfare between the colonists and the natives.

Eventually more colonists arrived at Jamestown

under a second charter by the king (James I)

that allowed for stronger leadership.

Settlers attempted several different types of industries

before John Rolfe introduced tobacco farming

which proved to be profitable.

John Rolfe ended up marrying Pocahontas, the chief's daughter.
I've made many trips to Jamestown,
and I highly recommend a visit if you're in the area.(photos with the exception of the one at the top of the page were taken with and IR filter- yes, I was looking for ghosts.)

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

v. settle or find a solution to (a problem, dispute, or contentious matter).

v. decide firmly on a course of action.

n. firm determination to do something.

It's that time of year when people write out lists of things they want to change in the coming new year.

I'd wager that most people start out with good intentions and

plan on following through with all of their resolutions.

Sadly, most give up and fail to accomplish anything on their list.

Despite the fact that I fall into the never-accomplish-anything-on-my-resolution-list category,

I figured I'd give it another go.

So, thinking that sharing my list might make me more inclined to stick to it

(the whole accountability thing),

I'm posting it here.

Being Healthier:

Walk at least 2 miles 4 days a week (I'm hoping to make it 7 days a week, but I think 4 is more realistic).

Go back to a Low Carb/Good Carb diet (like
South Beach). I did this once and lost a lot of weight and just felt
better over all. But I'm a stress eater, I'm stressed and planning
meals and grocery shopping is a pain. No excuses though, time to get
back to something healthier.

Lose 30 pounds. I'm pretty sure that if I manage #1 and #2 this one will be no problem.

Drink more water.

Cut back on the amount of soda I drink.
I like iced tea and green tea so I should work on drinking that. Plus,
making iced tea is cheaper than buying soda. And it really bothers me
that I drink something that is used to clean the corrosion on car
batteries.

Find time to meditate at least 3 times a week. Ideally it should be every day, but I'm being realistic as meditation is not so easy with a 7 year old about.

Put at least $25 per week in my savings account (hopefully more than that per week, but a minimum of $25).

Cook my own breakfast each morning- don't eat out (this is also a healthy thing).

Pack my lunch at least 4 out of 5 days.
I'd say all 5 days, but again, I'm trying to be realistic. This could
potentially save me about $200 a month. That's a lot. In fact it's a
car payment.

Eat dinner out only 2-3 times a month.
This is going to be a tough one. When you've gotten into the habit of
eating out on a regular basis, it's hard to break that habit. Who wants
to deal with planning meals or doing the dishes (the cooking I'm okay
with).

Pay off the Credit Cards. Tough, but I've already locked them away in the safe, and I have a plan.

Organization:

Go through my 7 year old's toys to see what can be donated.
He wasn't too receptive to the idea, but he has more than enough to
play with (and doesn't even play with it all). I'm thinking of making
this something that is done yearly before Christmas- you know, making
room for the new stuff.

Clean out my clothes.
I know there are things that are in my closet that haven't seen the
light of day in 2 years or more. I obviously have no need for them, but
someone else might.

Plan out meals a month at a time. I know I can do this because I have
done it. It makes live easier when you do- you save money on
groceries, save time on shopping and on cooking (especially if you use a
slow cooker on a regular basis).

Organize recipes. I have a few, some written down, some saved on Pinterest, but I'd like them all in one place like a recipe box.

Declutter in general. Find a better way to organize mail, school papers, product manuals, warranties, etc.

Cleaning the basement and the items you have in storage there. This
includes my whole family and a trip to the dump. I'm hoping to get my
items better stored and organized at a minimum and help my parents and
siblings get rid of the junk as a bigger goal.

General:

Get to the point where I am blogging 4-5 days a week. That's tough since I have several blogs, but something I have been continuously working towards.

Learn to use my DSLR camera in something other than automatic mode.

Take some time to go take photos with the DSLR camera not in automatic mode at least every other week. Ideally I'd like to take a trip somewhere closeby to take photos at least once a month.

Start writing a book. Doesn't matter what the genre is or the content or that there's an expectation to finish, just start.

Build 2 polytunnels for growing greens in the cold winter months.

Plant a more efficient vegetable garden.

Plan out time for canning to be faster and more productive.

Plan weekly family night. Either planning on playing a game or watching a movie or some type of outing like bowling or mini-golf- and sticking to it.

Plan weekly or bi-weekly date night.
Because alone time with the one you love is important and sometimes
life is so busy you forget. So weekly is the main goal, but building to
that is okay. And date night doesn't mean that you have to spend
money. Could be dinner at home and a movie or going for a walk or a
hike.

That for the most part is my list.

My goals and resolutions for 2014.

Throughout the year I'll check back regarding my list to see

how I'm doing or

if I'm doing.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
~Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1850